The War in Europe and D-Day

The War's Voices:

Broadcast and Commercial Recordings of Speeches and Interviews of World War II-era Personalities.

Winning the Home Front:

War-related Entertainment, Propaganda, and Ads Targeting World War II-era Radio Listeners.

G.I. Jive:

Popular and Topical Songs of World War II.

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boys:

USO Shows, Armed Forces Radio, V-Discs, and Other Morale Efforts Targeting the Military.

We Interrupt This Program:

War Reports, News Flashes, and Informational Programs Regarding World War II.

Now Hear This:

World War II-era Broadcast and Recording Technology.

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Boogie Woogie Bugle Boys

We didn't come here to set any fashions in music. We merely came to bring a much-needed touch of home to some lads who have been here a couple years

Despite the plain logic of Colonel Theodore Banks' remark "you aren't going to win the war with piccolos," music, fueled by radio's popularity during World War II, proved as important as adequate supplies for the day-to-day struggles on the battlefront. The diversity of musical styles - from classical to blues - and the staggering supply of source material contributed to the success of the V-Disc program (V for victory), a government-funded recording project specifically targeting troops overseas.

Glenn Miller's American Band of the Allied Expeditionary Forces (AEF), arriving in London in the summer of 1944, galvanized troops across Europe, revamping traditional marches and ultimately redefining wartime entertainment. Live concerts and specially packaged pressings abounded and music-starved servicemen devoured these morsels of popular music like home-cooked meals.

The eight songs and radio broadcasts presented here come from the 78 rpm and lp disc collections in the Marr Sound Archives.

Song #1: Blues In Berlin
As allied troops stormed the beaches at Normandy, German command gravely misjudged Soviet strategy on the eastern front. "Operation Bagration" - a difficult offensive through the Balkans - surprised Axis forces, which expected an attack through a more accessible southern route. Josh White alluded to these growing miscalculations with his V-Disc effort, "Blues In Berlin," recorded in June 1944. A word play on the Harold Arlen favorite, the lyrics said just as much about German gaffe as they said about the widening gap between American and Soviet relations.

Song #2: Circus Polka
Igor Stavinsky's far-reaching influence extended from French-born composer, conductor, and teacher Nadia Boulanger to American iconoclast Frank Zappa. Stravinsky challenged the conventions of 20th century classical music with such early works as "Firebird Suite" and "The Rite Of Spring," both commissioned during fruitful years with Sergey Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. An invitation from Harvard University to deliver the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures during the 1939-40 academic year gave him the opportunity to leave continental Europe at the outset of World War II. "Circus Polka" is among his wartime orchestral works and this V-Disc recording of it with the New York Philharmonic, complete with a Jack Benny introduction, testifies to the sheer delight and the enormous respect American musicians bestowed the Russian composer.

Song #3: Johnny Zero
Marion Hutton and the Modernaires embarked on a theatre tour after Glenn Miller disbanded his civilian band in the fall of 1942. Hutton had been a featured vocalist with Miller since 1938, while the Modernaires were two-year veterans of his group. Hutton left the tour in the summer of 1943 to pursue Hollywood film work, but not before recording a radio broadcast that served as the source for one of the first V-Discs ever issued. As part of a "Army Hit Kit Tunes" package sent to troops overseas, "Johnny Zero," a song lifted from that broadcast, told the story of a not-so-smart schoolboy who finally "makes the grade" as a skilled pilot overseas.

Broadcast #1: BBC Interview with American Band Of The Allied Expeditionary Forces
After dissolving his civilian band in September 1942, Glenn Miller set out to entertain troops for the war effort, initially landing assignments on the east coast with his Army Air Force Technical Training Corps Band. Juggling popular engagements at Yale University, a regular radio broadcast called I Sustain The Wings - at first out of Boston and later from New York - as well as war bond drives as far west as St. Louis, Miller's band delighted dancehall crowds and household listeners alike. The day after D-Day, Miller received the green light to take his operation overseas. In this BBC interview from September 1944, Miller discusses the band - known in Europe as the American Band of the Allied Expeditionary Forces - and its hectic schedule of concerts and broadcasts, citing "eighty-nine separate jobs" in the month of August. Also note the question about "going overseas" - a reference to a future visit to France, which is, sadly, the fateful journey during which Miller lost his life.

Broadcast #2: BBC broadcast from Christmas Eve
Arguably as stirring and shocking as Pearl Harbor and D-Day, Glenn Miller's plane disappeared over the English Channel in route to France on December 15, 1944. Wanting to arrive ahead of his band to solidify plans for an extended engagement, Miller experienced difficulty securing a flight out of London due to adverse weather conditions. With all flights grounded and a mounting backlog to Paris, Flight Officer John R. S. Morgan and Lt. Col. Norman F. Baessell invited Miller to join them on a specially chartered plane from Bedford to Bordeaux. This BBC broadcast from Christmas Eve, aired one day after Miller's wife received word, officially reported the plane missing. Miller's death, which came six short months after his arrival in Europe, left a void in military and music circles and symbolized the decline of the big-band era itself.

Song #4: In The Mood
A true audio treat, The American Band of the AEF recorded a series of shows at EMI studios in London that were broadcast over German airwaves for German soldiers! The 1944 broadcasts enlisted the assistance of female German announcer Ilse Weinberger and gave Glenn Miller a chance to brush up on his German conversational skills. In this October 30th clip, aired November 8th on the German Wehrmacht hour, the band performs the Miller hit "In the Mood" and features the versatile Johnny Desmond - who the French dubbed "Le Cremaire" (the Creamer) - singing "Long Ago and Far Away" in German.

Song #5: Swing Shift opening,
Song #6: Swing Shift closing
To relieve the burden of constant musical demands, Glenn Miller's American Band of the AEF often broke down into groups ranging from 50-piece string orchestras for the "Strings With Wings" performances to smaller, jazzier combos for the popular "Swing Shift" radio program. As master of ceremonies of the latter broadcasts, Ray McKinley demonstrated his ability as both an electrifying drummer and a charismatic front man. When Miller went "missing in flight", McKinley assumed leadership of the American Band of the AEF at nightly concerts while balancing regular broadcasts of the "Swing Shift" from the Olympia Theatre in Paris.

As these opening and closing clips of an April 5, 1945 "Swing Shift" broadcast attest, McKinley's (and others') showmanship and dedication to wartime entertainment didn't stop with Miller's death at the end of 1944.

Text by Kelly McEniry, Marr Sound Archives
Digital Audio by Scott Middleton, Marr Sound Archives

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